Vehicle sun visor

ABSTRACT

A vehicle sun visor includes a sun visor body, a support shaft mounted on a ceiling surface of a vehicle cabin and configured to support the sun visor body at a turning center position of the sun visor body such that the sun visor body is turnable between a storage position at which the sun visor body is oriented along the ceiling surface of the vehicle cabin and a use position at which the sun visor body is able to block light, a damper configured to apply braking force at the time when the sun visor body turns, and a slide mechanism configured to hold the sun visor body such that the sun visor body is slidable in an axial direction of the support shaft with respect to the support shaft.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-123480 filed onMay 30, 2012 and No. 2012-127989 filed on Jun. 5, 2012 each includingthe specification, drawings and abstract is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a vehicle sun visor that is configured to beturnable between a storage position at which a sun visor body isoriented along a ceiling surface of a vehicle cabin and a use positionat which the sun visor body is able to block light.

2. Description of Related Art

A related vehicle sun visor is described in Japanese Patent ApplicationPublication No. 2002-012028 (JP 2002-012028 A). As shown in FIG. 14, thevehicle sun visor 100 includes a sun visor body 101 and a support shaft103 connected to a ceiling surface of a vehicle cabin by a bracket 102.Then, the sun visor body 101 is configured to be turnable around theaxis of the support shaft 103 between a storage position at which thesun visor body 101 is oriented along the ceiling surface of the vehiclecabin and a use position at which the sun visor body 101 is able toblock light. A bearing portion 105 for the support shaft 103 is providedinside the sun visor body 101, and a leaf spring 105 b that radiallysandwiches the support shaft 103 is set at the bearing portion 105. Theleaf spring 105 b is configured to be able to hold the sun visor body101 at the shading position and, when the sun visor body 101 is returnedto near the storage position, to apply turning force toward the storageposition. Therefore, when the sun visor body 101 is located near thestorage position, the sun visor body 101 is returned to the storageposition by the spring force of the leaf spring 105 b and is held at thestorage position. As shown in FIG. 16, a damper 107 is provided insidethe sun visor body 101, and the distal end of the support shaft 103 iscoupled to the damper 107. The damper 107 applies braking force to aturn of the sun visor body 101 with respect to the support shaft 103,and functions to suppress turning speed with the spring force of theleaf spring 105 b at the time when the sun visor body 101 turns towardthe storage position. Thus, it is possible to suppress unpleasant sounddue to a bump against the ceiling surface at the time when the sun visorbody 101 is stored.

However, as shown in FIG. 15, in the above-described vehicle sun visor100, a distal end 103f of the support shaft 103 is coupled to a rotor107 r of the damper 107 by a coupling pin 108, and the damper 107 isfixed to the sun visor body 101. Therefore, the sun visor body 101 isnot able to slide in the axial direction of the support shaft 103 withrespect to the support shaft 103. Thus, for example, when the sun visorbody 101, blocks sunlight that enters from a side close to the frontface, it is difficult for the sun visor body 101 to block sunlight whenthe vehicle, for example, turns right and then the sunlight enters fromthe diagonally forward left side.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is able to easily expand a range in which a sun visor bodyis able to block light.

An aspect of the invention provides a vehicle sun visor including a sunvisor body, a support shaft mounted on a ceiling surface of a vehiclecabin and configured to support the sun visor body at a turning centerposition of the sun visor body such that the sun visor body is turnablebetween a storage position at which the sun visor body is oriented alongthe ceiling surface of the vehicle cabin and a use position at which thesun visor body is able to block light, and a damper configured to applybraking force at the time when the sun visor body turns. The vehicle sunvisor includes a slide mechanism configured to hold the sun visor bodysuch that the sun visor body is slidable in an axial direction of thesupport shaft with respect to the support shaft.

According to the above aspect, it is possible to slide the sun visorbody in the axial direction of the support shaft with respect to thesupport shaft with the use of the slide mechanism. Therefore, it ispossible to efficiently block not only sunlight that enters from thefront face side to a driver seat but also enters from the diagonallyforward. For example, when sunlight that enters from a side close to thefront face is blocked by the sun visor body, and then even when thevehicle turns right and sunlight enters from the diagonally forward leftside, it is possible to cope with the situation by sliding the sun visorbody leftward with respect to the support shaft. In this way, byproviding the slide mechanism, it is possible to easily expand the rangein which the sun visor body is able to block light.

In the above aspect, the damper may include a rotor and a rotor caseconfigured to support the rotor such that the rotor is rotatable aroundits axis, the rotor may be held so as to be relatively non-movable in anaxial direction and a circumferential direction with respect to thesupport shaft, and the rotor case may be held by the sun visor body in astate where the rotor case is slidable in a direction along the axis ofthe support shaft and relatively non-rotatable with respect to the sunvisor body. Thus, in the sun visor that includes the damper as well, itis possible to slide the sun visor body in the axial direction of thesupport shaft with respect to the support shaft.

In the above aspect, the damper may include a rotor and a rotor caseconfigured to support the rotor such that the rotor is rotatable aroundits axis, the rotor may be held so as to be relatively non-rotatable andrelatively movable in an axial direction with respect to the supportshaft, and the rotor case may be held by the sun, visor body in a statewhere the rotor case is relatively non-movable in an axial direction anda circumferential direction with respect to the sun visor body. Thus, inthe sun visor that includes the damper as well, it is possible to slidethe sun visor body in the axial direction of the support shaft withrespect to the support shaft. In addition, in the above aspect, theslide mechanism may be formed of a through-hole formed in the rotor caseand a slide rail. In addition, the through-hole may have an L shape incross section, and the slide rail may have an L shape in cross section.

According to the above aspect, it is possible to expand a range in whichthe sun visor body is able to block light.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features, advantages, and technical and industrial significance ofexemplary embodiments of the invention will be described below withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals denotelike elements, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view that shows a cabin of a passengerautomobile that includes a vehicle sun visor according to a firstembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view that shows a turning range of a sun visor body ofthe vehicle sun visor;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view that shows a support shaft and bracket ofthe vehicle sun visor;

FIG. 4A is a perspective view of a back-side shell member thatconstitutes the sun visor body of the vehicle sun visor when viewed froma back side;

FIG. 4B is a perspective view of a front-side shell member thatconstitutes the sun visor body of the vehicle sun visor when viewed fromthe back side;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a damper, a bearing portion and a sliderail incorporated in the sun visor body and part of the support shaftwhen viewed from the front side of the sun visor body;

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the damper, the bearingportion and the slide rail that are incorporated in the sun visor body;

FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view perpendicular to an axis of aleaf spring portion of the bearing portion;

FIG. 8A is a schematic cross-sectional view that shows the function ofthe leaf spring;

FIG. 8B is a schematic cross-sectional view that shows the function ofthe leaf spring;

FIG. 9A is a schematic view that shows the structure of the damper;

FIG. 9B is an enlarged view of portion B in FIG. 9A;

FIG. 10 is a schematic view that shows a detent structure for thesupport shaft with respect to the damper and a retaining structure forthe support shaft with respect to the bearing portion;

FIG. 11A is a schematic view that shows an alternative embodiment of thedetent structure for the support shaft with respect to a rotor of thedamper;

FIG. 11B is a schematic view that shows an alternative embodiment of thedetent structure for the support shaft with respect to the rotor of thedamper;

FIG. 11C is a schematic view that shows an alternative embodiment of thedetent structure for the support shaft with respect to the rotor of thedamper;

FIG. 12A is a schematic view that shows an alternative embodiment of aninsertion structure for the support shaft with respect to the rotor ofthe damper;

FIG. 12B is a schematic view that shows an alternative embodiment of aninsertion structure for the support shaft with respect to the rotor ofthe damper;

FIG. 13 is a schematic perspective view that shows an alternativeembodiment of a mounting structure of the bearing portion and damper ofthe sun visor body;

FIG. 14 is a partially cut-out perspective view that shows a vehicle sunvisor according to the related art; and

FIG. 15 is a perspective view that shows a coupling structure between asupport shaft and a damper in the vehicle sun visor according to therelated art.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, a vehicle sun visor according to an embodiment of theinvention will be described with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 13. Here,the front, rear, right, left, upper and lower in the drawingsrespectively correspond to the front, rear, right, left, upper and lowerof a vehicle to which the vehicle sun visor is mounted.

As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle sun visor 10 (hereinafter, referred toas sun visor 10) includes a substantially rectangular sun visor body 20and a support shaft 30. The sun visor body 20 blocks sunlight thatenters a vehicle cabin. The support shaft 30 is mounted on a ceilingsurface 4 of the vehicle cabin by a bracket 12. The support shaft 30 isformed of a linear lateral shaft 32 and a longitudinal shaft 38 providedat the proximal end portion side of the lateral shaft 32. Thelongitudinal shaft 38 is coupled to the bracket 12 so as to be rotatablearound its axis. The lateral shaft 32 of the support shaft 30 isinserted in the top side location (see FIG. 1) of the sun visor body 20in a state where the lateral shaft 32 is relatively rotatable withrespect to the sun visor body 20 along the top side. Thus, as shown inFIG. 2, the sun visor body 20 is turnable about the axis of the supportshaft 30 (lateral shaft 32) between a storage position K at which thesun visor body 20 is oriented along the ceiling surface 4 of the vehiclecabin and a use limit position P at which the sun visor body 20 isoriented along a windshield 7 of the vehicle cabin. Here, the sun visorbody 20 receives turning force toward the storage position K between thestorage position K and an urging start position M (see FIG. 2) as willbe described later. Between the urging start position M and the uselimit position P, the sun visor body 20 receives holding force so as tobe held at a turning stop position and not to be turned by turning forceunder its own weight. Then, in a state where the sun visor body 20 isplaced between the urging start position M and the use limit position P,the sun visor body 20 is able to block sunlight, and this position isthe use position of the sun visor body 20. That is, a region between thestorage position K and the urging start position M is termed storageposition-side turning region, and a region between the urging startposition M and the use limit position P is termed holding region.Furthermore, by rotating the longitudinal shaft 38 of the support shaft30 in the counterclockwise direction around its axis with respect to thebracket 12, it is possible to move the sun visor body 20 to a positionof a window 8 of a door as indicated by the alternate long and two shortdashes line in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG, 1, a room lamp 5 is provided atthe storage position of the sun visor body 20 on the ceiling surface 4of the vehicle cabin. The room lamp 5 is able to light up insynchronization with, for example, turning motion of the sun visor body20.

The support shaft 30 is formed of a cylindrical shaft member, andelectric wires that are connected to an electrical circuit of the roomlamp 5 are inserted through the inside of the support shaft 30. As shownin FIG. 3, the lateral shaft 32 of the support shaft 30 is formed of aproximal end portion-side large-diameter portion 321 having a largediameter and a distal end-side small-diameter portion 322 having adiameter smaller than that of the large-diameter portion 321. A taperedportion 321 t that gradually changes in diameter is provided between thelarge-diameter portion 321 and small-diameter portion 322 of the lateralshaft 32. In addition, a detent 323 is provided from the tapered portion321 t to the proximal end portion of the small-diameter portion 322. Thedetent 323 is a protrusion that protrudes radially outward. The distalend portion, that is, the location close to the tapered portion 321 t,of the large-diameter portion 321 of the lateral shaft 32 is a portionthat is inserted through a bearing portion 25 (described later) of thesun visor body 20, and a portion of the outer periphery of this portionin the circumferential direction is cut into a flat shape, and a leafspring contact flat face 321 b is formed. In addition, an electrodeportion 324 (described later) is provided at the distal end portion ofthe small-diameter portion 322 of the lateral shaft 32. The electrodeportion 324 operates as the sun visor body 20 turns from the storageposition K to the use position with respect to the support shaft 30(lateral shaft 32).

As shown in FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B, the sun visor body 20 is formed into ahollow shape by mating a shell-shaped front-side shell member 21 and ashell-shaped back-side shell member 22 with each other. The front-sideshell member 21 and the back-side shell member 22 are, for example,molded by injecting resin into a molding die. Here, the front side ofthe sun visor body 20 means a face on a side facing an occupant when thesun visor body 20 is placed at the use position at which the sun visorbody 20 is able to block light. FIG. 4B shows the back side of thefront-side shell member 21 for the sake of easy view of the inside ofthe front-side shell member 21. As shown in FIG. 1, a rectangular recess21 h is formed on the right location with respect to the center on thesurface of the front-side shell member 21 of the sun visor body 20, anda rectangular mirror unit 20 m is fitted into the rectangular recess 21h. In addition, as shown in FIG. 4B, a slide rail 23, the bearingportion 25, a damper 26 and a switch 27 are provided at a locationcorresponding to the top side of the sun visor body 20 inside thefront-side shell member 21 of the sun visor body 20.

As shown in FIG. 4A to FIG. 6, the slide rail 23 is a linear rail havingan L shape in cross section. The slide rail 23 is mounted along the topside of the sun visor body 20, and is configured to be able to couplethe bearing portion 25 and the damper 26 to the sun visor body 20. Thatis, as shown in FIG. 5, FIG. 6, and the like, a case 250 of the bearingportion 25 has an L-shaped through-hole 251 having a substantially Lshape in cross section, a rotor case 260 of the damper 26 has anL-shaped through-hole 261 having a substantially L shape in crosssection, and the slide rail 23 is inserted through those L-shapedthrough-holes 251, 261. Therefore, the bearing portion 25 and the damper26 are movable along the slide rail 23, and are held relativelynon-rotatable around the axis of the slide rail 23. Through-holes 23 nare respectively formed at both end locations of the slide rail 23. Inaddition, internal threaded holes (not shown) are respectively formed atboth right and left sides of the location corresponding to the top sideof the sun visor body 20 inside the front-side shell member 21, and, asshown in FIG. 4B, the through-holes 23 n of the slide rail 23 arerespectively aligned with the internal threaded holes. Furthermore,through-holes 22 n are respectively formed in the back-side shell member22 at locations corresponding to the internal threaded holes (not shown)of the front-side shell member 21 (see FIG. 4A). Therefore, it ispossible to screw the slide rail 23 and the back-side shell member 22 tothe front-side shell member 21 together. The switch 27 is fixed to theinside of the front-side shell member 21 at the left side (right side onthe sheet of FIG. 4B) of the slide rail 23. The switch 27 includes anelectrode receiving portion 27 a and a switch body portion 27 b. Theelectrode portion 324 at the distal end of the support shaft 30 isinserted in the electrode receiving portion 27 a. When a lid 20 x (seeFIG. 1) of the mirror unit 20 m is opened, the switch body portion 27 bis pressed by the lid 20 x and as a result, the switch body portion 27 boperates.

The bearing portion 25 supports the large-diameter portion 321 of thelateral shaft 32 of the support shaft 30, and is configured to be ableto apply turning force toward the storage position K to the sun visorbody 20 between the storage position K and the urging start position Mand to apply holding force to the sun visor body 20 between the urgingstart position M and the use limit position P. With the holding force,it is possible to hold the sun visor body 20 at a current position. Asshown in. FIG. 5 to FIG. 7, the bearing portion 25 is formed of the case250 and a leaf spring 24. The slide rail 23 is inserted through the case250. The leaf spring 24 is accommodated in the case 250. The case 250 isformed in a substantially H shape in side view, and has the L-shapedthrough-holes 251 at both right and left ends at its lower portion. Theslide rail 23 is inserted through the U-shaped through-holes 251. Inaddition, bearing bodies 253 are respective formed at both right andleft ends of the upper portion of the case 250. The large-diameterportion 321 of the lateral shaft 32 of the support shaft 30 is insertedthrough the bearing bodies 253. Then, a rectangular cutout portion 253 kis formed at the lower end location of each bearing body 253. Thus, atthe time when the lateral shaft 32 of the support shaft 30 is insertedthrough the bearing bodies 253, the detent 323 of the lateral shaft 32is allowed to pass through portions corresponding to the rectangularcutout portions 253 k. In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, the case 250 hasa slider 257 that is pressed against the upper face of the slide rail 23by the spring force of a spring 256. Thus, it is possible to reducerattling at the time when the case 250 of the bearing portion 25 slideson the slide rail 23. Furthermore, a pawl receiving portion 258 isprovided at the left end location of the case 250. A coupling pawl 265provided at the rotor case 260 of the damper 26 is hooked to the pawlreceiving portion 258.

The leaf spring 24 of the bearing portion 25 is fitted between the rightand left bearing bodies 253 of the case 250. As shown in FIG. 7, FIG. 8Aand FIG. 8B, the leaf spring 24 is formed of a substantially trapezoidalsurrounding portion 241, a U-shaped spring portion 244 and a flat sheetportion 245. The surrounding portion 241 having nearly trapezoidal shapepresses the outer periphery of the large-diameter portion 321 of thelateral shaft 32 at two portions spaced at an interval of about 120° inthe circumferential direction. The U-shaped spring portion 244 is bentin a hairpin shape continuously with the surrounding portion 241. Theflat sheet portion 245 is provided at the other end side of the U-shapedspring portion 244, and presses the outer periphery of thelarge-diameter portion 321 of the lateral shaft 32 from a locationspaced at an interval of about 120° in the circumferential directionfrom the surrounding portion 241. The width (width in the directionalong the axis of the lateral shaft 32) of the flat sheet portion 245 ofthe leaf spring 24 is set so as to be equal to the axial length of theleaf spring contact flat face 321 b formed at the large-diameter portion321 of the lateral shaft 32. In addition, the width of each of thesurrounding portion 241 and U-shaped spring portion 244 of the leafspring 24 is set to a value sufficiently larger than the width of theflat sheet portion 245.

When the sun visor body 20 is located in the use position (between theurging start position M and the use limit position P), the surroundingportion 241 and flat sheet portion 245 of the leaf spring 24 both pressthe outer periphery of the large-diameter portion 321 of the lateralshaft 32 as shown in FIG. 8A, and spring force that acts toward thecenter of the large-diameter portion 321 of the lateral shaft 32 keepsbalance in the circumferential direction. Therefore, the large-diameterportion 321 of the lateral shaft 32 is fastened from the surroundings bythe spring force of the leaf spring 24, and a turn under its own weightof the sun visor body 20 with respect to the lateral shaft 32 of thesupport shaft 30 is prohibited. That is, the sun visor body 20 is heldat the use position. In addition, when the sun visor body 20 is locatedbetween the storage position K and the urging start position M, thesurrounding portion 241 of the leaf spring 24 presses the outerperiphery of the large-diameter portion 321 of the lateral shaft 32, andthe flat sheet portion 245 presses part of the leaf spring contact flatface 321 b of the large-diameter portion 321 as shown in FIG. 8B. Thus,spring force that acts on the large-diameter portion 321 of the lateralshaft 32 loses balance in the circumferential direction, and turningforce toward the storage position K acts on the sun visor body 20. Thatis, the leaf spring 24 of the bearing portion 25 corresponds to anurging member of the invention.

The damper 26 is used to apply braking force to a turn of the sun visorbody 20 toward the storage position K and not to generate unpleasantsound at the time when the sun visor body 20 contacts the ceilingsurface 4 of the vehicle cabin at the storage position K. As shown inFIG. 9A, the damper 26 includes a cylindrical rotor 270 and the rotorcase 260. The rotor case 260 supports the rotor 270 such that the rotor270 is rotatable around its axis. The rotor case 260 of the damper 26has the L-shaped through-hole 261 at its lower-side location. The sliderail 23 of the sun visor body 20 is inserted through the L-shapedthrough-hole 261. As shown in FIG. 6, the rotor case 260 has thecoupling pawl 265 at its side face of the lower location. The couplingpawl 265 couples the rotor case 260 to the case 250 of the bearingportion 25. In addition, at the upper location of the rotor case 260 ofthe damper 26, a bearing portion (not shown) that supports the rotor 270such that the rotor 270 is rotatable around the axis is provided, and,as shown in FIG. 9A, a ring-shaped hydraulic pressure chamber 263 isprovided around the bearing portion. A stepped partition wall 263 t isprovided on the inner periphery of the hydraulic pressure chamber at aportion in the circumferential direction. The partition wail 263 tprotrudes radially inward.

As shown in FIG. 9A, the rotor 270 includes a cylindrical rotor body 272through which the small-diameter portion 322 of the lateral shaft 32 ofthe support shaft 30 is inserted. As shown in FIG. 6, the right endportion of the rotor body 272 protrudes in the axial direction from therotor case 260, and a detent cutout 272 k to which the detent 323 formedat the lateral shaft 32 of the support shaft 30 is formed at theprotruded end portion. That is, the small-diameter portion 322 of thelateral shaft 32 of the support shaft 30 is inserted in the rotor body272 and the detent 323 of the lateral shaft 32 is fitted to the detentcutout 272 k of the rotor body 272. Thus, the rotor 270 is held so as tobe relatively non-rotatable with respect to the lateral shaft 32 of thesupport shaft 30. As shown in FIG. 9A, a hydraulic pressure receivingportion 274 molded in a flange shape is coaxially provided on the outerperiphery of the rotor body 272 of the rotor 270. In a state where therotor body 272 of the rotor 270 is accommodated in the bearing portionof the rotor case 260, the hydraulic pressure receiving portion 274 ofthe rotor 270 is accommodated in the hydraulic pressure chamber 263 ofthe rotor case 260. The partition wall 274 t is formed in the hydraulicpressure receiving portion 274 of the rotor 270 such that a portion inthe circumferential direction protrudes radially outward. In addition,as shown in FIG. 913, the partition wall of the hydraulic pressurereceiving portion 274 has a tapered fluid passage 274 j that effectivelyallows fluid to pass therethrough at the time when the rotor 270 rotatesin the forward direction (the sun visor body 20 turns toward the useposition) and that makes it hard to pass fluid at the time when therotor 270 rotates in the reverse direction.

With the above configuration, when the rotor 270 rotates in the forwarddirection with respect to the rotor case 260, fluid pressed by thepartition wall 274 t of the hydraulic pressure receiving portion 274 ofthe rotor 270 passes through between the partition wall 274 t and theinner periphery of the hydraulic pressure chamber 263 of the rotor case260, and further passes through the fluid passage 274 j of the partitionwall 274 t. In addition, the fluid passes through between the partitionwall 263 t of the hydraulic pressure chamber 263 of the rotor case 260and the outer periphery of the hydraulic pressure receiving portion 274of the rotor 270. Thus, the braking force of the damper 26 becomes arelatively small value. On the other hand, when the rotor 270 rotates inthe reverse direction with respect to the rotor case 260, fluid pressedby the partition wall 274 t of the hydraulic pressure receiving portion274 of the rotor 270 almost cannot pass through the fluid passage 274 jof the partition wall 274 t. Therefore, as compared to the forwardrotation, the braking force of the damper 26 increases.

Next, assembling of the sun visor body 20 and the support shaft 30 willbe described. First, as shown in FIG. 4B, the switch 27 is mounted at apredetermined location of the front-side shell member 21 of the sunvisor body 20. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 10, the phase of thedetent cutout 272 k of the rotor 270 of the damper 26 is adjusted to thephase of the cutout portions 253 k provided at the bearing bodies 253 ofthe case 250 of the bearing portion 25. That is, the detent cutout 272 kis held downward by rotating the rotor 270 of the damper 26. In thisstate, the slide rail 23 is passed through the L-shaped through-hole 261of the rotor case 260 of the damper 26 and the L-shaped through-hole 251of the case 250 of the bearing portion 25. Then, the coupling pawl 265formed at the rotor case 260 of the damper 26 is engaged with the pawlreceiving portion 258 of the case 250 of the bearing portion 25, andthus the damper 26 couples to the bearing portion 25 (see FIG. 5).Subsequently, the through-holes 23 n at both ends of the slide rail 23are aligned with the internal threaded holes (not shown) of thefront-side shell member 21, the through-holes 22 n of the back-sideshell member 22 are further aligned with the internal threaded holes(not shown) of the front-side shell member 21, and the slide rail 23 andthe back-side shell member 22 are screwed together to the front-sideshell member 21. In this state, mounting of the damper 26 and thebearing portion 25 on the sun visor body 20 is completed. That is, theL-shaped through-hole 261 of the rotor case 260 of the damper 26, theL-shaped through-hole 251 of the case 250 of the bearing portion 25 andthe slide rail 23 function as a slide mechanism of the invention.

After that, the detent 323 of the lateral shaft 32 of the support shaft30 is oriented downward as shown in FIG. 10, the lateral shaft 32 isinserted from the right side of the sun visor body 20 to the top sidelocation of the sun visor body 20. At this time, the distal end side ofthe lateral shaft 32 of the support shaft 30 is the small-diameterportion 322, so the small-diameter portion 322 is smoothly insertedthrough the bearing body 253 of the bearing portion 25 and the leafspring 24, and is able to guide the large-diameter portion 321 to thelocation of the bearing body 253 and leaf spring 24. Here, the detent323 formed between the small-diameter portion 322 and large-diameterportion 321 of the lateral shaft 32 is held downward, and is alignedwith the phase of the cutout portions 253 k respectively formed at thebearing bodies 253 of the bearing portion 25. Therefore, the detent 323of the lateral shaft 32 is allowed to pass through the cutout portion253 k of the right-side bearing body 253, and the large-diameter portion321 of the lateral shaft 32 is allowed to be inserted through thebearing portion 25. That is, the large-diameter portion 321 of thelateral shaft 32 that has passed through the right-side bearing body 253is inserted through the leaf spring 24 in process of being pressedleftward, and further inserted through the left-side (damper 26-side)bearing body 253. The detent 323 of the lateral shaft 32 has passedthough the cutout portion 253 k of the left-side bearing body 253, andis then fitted to the detent cutout 272 k of the damper 26 (rotor body272) having the same phase as that of the cutout portions 253 k. Thisposition is an insertion limit position of the lateral shaft 32, and theaxial location of the leaf spring contact flat face 321 b formed at thelarge-diameter portion 321 of the lateral shaft 32 coincides with theaxial location of the flat sheet portion 245 provided at the leaf spring24 of the bearing portion 25.

The small-diameter portion 322 at the distal end side of the lateralshaft 32, which has passed through the bearing portion 25, is insertedthrough the rotor body 272 of the rotor 270 of the damper 26, and thenthe distal end portion of the small-diameter portion 322, that is, theelectrode portion 324, is inserted into the electrode receiving portion27 a of the switch 27. In this way, in a state where the lateral shaft32 of the support shaft 30 is inserted in the sun visor body 20 to theinsertion limit position, the sun visor body 20 is turned around itsaxis with respect to the lateral shaft 32. Thus, the rotor case 260 ofthe damper 26 mounted on the sun visor body 20 rotates with respect tothe rotor 270 of the damper 26 engaged with the lateral shaft 32 of thesupport shaft 30. In addition, similarly, the bearing portion 25 and theswitch 27 that are mounted on the sun visor body 20 rotate with respectto the lateral shaft 32 of the support shaft 30. As a result, the decent323 of the lateral shaft 32 that has passed through the cutout portion253 k of the left-side (damper 26-side) bearing body 253 of the bearingportion 25 rotates with respect to the cutout portion 253 k of thebearing body 253, and is hooked on the outside of the bearing body 253.Thus, the lateral shaft 32 of the support shaft 30 is retained withrespect to the sun visor body 20. Therefore, the damper 26 and bearingportion 25 of the sun visor body 20 are held so as to be relativelynon-movable in the axial direction with respect to the lateral shaft 32of the support shaft 30. Here, the damper 26 and the bearing portion 25are configured to be movable along the slide rail 23 fixed to the sunvisor body 20. Therefore, it is possible to slide the sun visor body 20by the length of the slide rail 23 with respect to the lateral shaft 32of the support shaft 30, the damper 26 and the bearing portion 25.

Next, an operation of the sun visor 10 according to the presentembodiment will be described. When the sun visor 10 is used, the sunvisor body 20 located at the storage position K is held with hand and isturned to the use position. At this time, until the sun visor body 20exceeds the urging start position M, the turning torque of the leafspring 24, which attempts to turn the sun visor body 20 toward thestorage position K, acts on the sun visor body 20, so the sun visor body20 is turned by force that exceeds the turning torque. Here, when thesun visor body 20 is turned toward the use position, turning force underthe own weight of the sun visor body 20 acts in the turning direction.In addition, the rotor 270 of the damper 26 rotates in the forwarddirection, so braking force reduces. Therefore, it becomes easy tooperate the sun visor body 20 toward the use position. When the sunvisor body 20 exceeds the urging start position M, the spring force ofthe leaf spring 24 keeps balance in the circumferential direction, andacts in the direction in which the lateral shaft 32 of the support shaft30 is fastened. Thus, when a turn of the sun visor body 20 is stopped atthe use position, the sun visor body 20 is held at a current position bythe spring force of the leaf spring 24. In addition, it is also possibleto slide the sun visor body 20 at the use position with respect to thelateral shaft 32 of the support shaft 30. Furthermore, when the sunvisor body 20 turns to a position that exceeds the urging start positionM (use position), the electrode portion 324 provided at the distal endof the lateral shaft 32 of the support shaft 30 operates on the functionof the electrode receiving portion 27 a of the switch 27. Therefore,when the lid 20 x of the mirror unit 20 m is opened and a switch bodyportion 27 b of the switch 27 operates, the room lamp 5 on the ceilingsurface 4 of the vehicle cabin lights up.

When the sun visor 10 is stored, the sun visor body 20 placed at the useposition is turned to the urging start position M against the fasteningforce (holding force) of the leaf spring 24 and the braking force of thedamper 26. The turning torque of the leaf spring 24, which attempts toturn the sun visor body 20 toward the storage position K, acts on thesun visor body 20 from the urging start position M, so the sun visorbody 20 is returned to the storage position K by the turning torque ofthe leaf spring 24. At the time when the sun visor body 20 is returnedfrom the urging start position M to the storage position K, the weightof the sun visor body 20 acts in the opposite direction to the turn.

With the sun visor 10 according to the present embodiment, it ispossible to hold the sun visor body 20 such that the sun visor body 20is slidable in the axial direction of the lateral shaft 32 with respectto the support shaft 30 (lateral shaft 32). Therefore, it is possible toefficiently block not only sunlight that enters from the front face sideto a driver seat but also enters from the diagonally forward. Forexample, when sunlight that enters from a side close to the front faceis blocked by the sun visor body 20, and then even when the vehicleturns right and sunlight enters from the diagonally forward left side,it is possible to cope with the situation by sliding the sun visor body20 leftward with respect to the support shaft 30 (lateral shaft 32). Inthis way, by making the sun visor body 20 possible to slide in the axialdirection of the lateral shaft 32, it is possible to easily expand therange in which the sun visor body is able to block light.

Here, the invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment; itmay be modified without departing from the scope of the invention. Forexample, in the present embodiment, the description is made on theexample in which, as a rotation stopper for the lateral shaft 32 of thesupport shaft 30 with respect to the rotor 270 of the damper 26, therotor 270 has the detent cutout 272k, the lateral shaft 32 has thedetent 323 and both 272 k, 323 are fitted to each other. Instead, asshown in FIG. 11A, it is possible to constitute a rotation stopper byforming a projecting portion 272 e on the inner periphery of the rotorbody 272 of the rotor 270 and forming a recess 322 f, to which theprojecting portion 272 e is fitted, on the outer periphery of thesmall-diameter portion 322 of the lateral shaft 32. In addition, asshown in FIG. 11B, it is possible to constitute a rotation stopper byforming the inside of the rotor body 272 into a rectangular shape andforming the small-diameter portion 322 of the lateral shaft 32 into arectangular columnar shape. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 11C, it isalso applicable that a through-hole that is continuous in the radialdirection from the rotor body 272 of the rotor 270 to the small-diameterportion 322 of the lateral shaft 32 is formed and a detent pin 272 p isinserted in the through-hole. In addition, in the present embodiment,the description is made on the example in which the lateral shaft 32 ofthe support shaft 30 is inserted through the rotor 270 of the damper 26.However, depending on the type of sun visor, it is also applicable that,as shown in FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B, the distal end portion of the lateralshaft 32 of the support shaft 30 is retained inside the rotor 270 of thedamper 26. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, thedescription is made on the example in which the damper 26 and thebearing portion 25 are held so as to be relatively non-movable in theaxial direction with respect to the lateral shaft 32 of the supportshaft 30 and the damper 26 and the bearing portion 25 both are arrangedso as to be movable along the slide rail 23. However, it is alsoapplicable that, as shown in FIG. 13, the damper 26 and the bearingportion 25 are spaced apart from each other, the damper 26 is directlymounted on the sun visor body 20, the lateral shaft 32 of the supportshaft 30 is held so as to be relatively non-rotatable and axiallyslidable with respect to the rotor 270 of the damper 26, and the bearingportion 25 coupled to the lateral shaft 32 is allowed to move along theslide rail 23. In addition, in the present embodiment, the descriptionis made on the example in which the damper 26 and the bearing portion 25are coupled to each other by utilizing the coupling pawl 265 and thepawl receiving portion 258. However, the damper 26 and the bearingportion 25 may be coupled to each other by a screw or welding.Alternatively, for example, the damper 26 and the bearing portion 25 maybe coupled to each other using another component, such as an E typeretaining ring. Furthermore, the case 260 of the damper 26 and the case250 of the bearing portion 25 may be integrally molded. In addition, inthe present embodiment, the description is made on the example in whichthe support shaft 30 is formed of a cylindrical shaft member. However,the support shaft 30 may be formed of a solid shaft member. Furthermore,in the present embodiment, the description is made on the example inwhich the L-shaped through-holes 251, 261, through which the slide rail23 is inserted, are respectively formed in the cases 250, 260 of thebearing portion 25 and damper 26. However, as long as a hole allows theslide rail 23 to be inserted therethrough such that the slide rail 23 isrelatively non-rotatable, the hole is not particularly limited to anL-shaped through-hole. In addition, in the present embodiment, thedescription is made on the example in which, by forming the taperedfluid passage 274 j in the partition wall 274 t of the hydraulicpressure receiving portion 274 in the rotor 270 of the damper 26, fluidis easily passed at the time when the rotor 270 rotates in the forwarddirection (the sun visor body 20 turns toward the use position) andfluid is hard to be passed at the time when the rotor 270 rotates in thereverse direction (the sun visor body 20 turns toward the storageposition). However, instead of forming the tapered fluid passage 274 jin the partition wall 274 t, it is applicable that the outer peripheryof the partition wall 274 t has an inclination, fluid is easily passedat the time when the rotor 270 rotates in the forward direction (the sunvisor body 20 turns toward the use position) and fluid is hard to bepassed at the time when the rotor 270 rotates in the reverse direction(the sun visor body 20 turns toward the storage position). In additionto the inclination of the outer periphery of the partition wall 274 t,the fluid passage 274 j may be formed.

What is claimed is:
 1. A vehicle sun visor comprising: a sun visor body;a support shaft mounted on a ceiling surface of a vehicle cabin andconfigured to support the sun visor body at a turning center position ofthe sun visor body such that the sun visor body is turnable between astorage position at which the sun visor body is oriented along theceiling surface of the vehicle cabin and a use position at which the sunvisor body is able to block light; a damper configured to apply brakingforce at the time when the sun visor body turns; and a slide mechanismconfigured to hold the sun visor body such that the sun visor body isslidable in an axial direction of the support shaft with respect to thesupport shaft.
 2. The vehicle sun visor according to claim 1, whereinthe damper includes a rotor and a rotor case configured to support therotor such that the rotor is rotatable around its axis, the rotor isheld so as to be non-movable in an axial direction and a circumferentialdirection with respect to the support shaft, and the rotor case is heldby the sun visor body in a state where the rotor case is slidable in adirection along the axis of the support shaft and non-rotatable withrespect to the sun visor body.
 3. The vehicle sun visor according toclaim 2, wherein the slide mechanism is formed of a through-hole formedin the rotor case and a slide rail.
 4. The vehicle sun visor accordingto claim 3, wherein the through-hole has an L shape in cross section,and the slide rail has an L shape in cross section.
 5. The vehicle sunvisor according to claim 1, wherein the damper includes a rotor and arotor case configured to support the rotor such that the rotor isrotatable around its axis, the rotor is held so as to be non-rotatableand movable in an axial direction with respect to the support shaft, andthe rotor case is held by the sun visor body in a state where the rotorcase is non-movable in an axial, direction and a circumferentialdirection with respect to the sun visor body.